As stated in the reader 'the process of 'learning from an experience' is a process of turning information into knowledge' Which is the idea of reflection. In this reader reflection is an idea not a term, I had to keep reminding myself this otherwise you loose the concept. Like web 2.0 is a platform and tool for our professional practice so is Reflection. Reflection is a tool for understanding and can help us learn and gain knowledge through experiences.
The reader mentions different practitioners and I am going to briefly sum them up below.
Dewey - He believes there are different levels of experience and that we need to be aware of them to start the reflective process. I think that sometimes we rush through our days at 100miles an hour and sometimes don't stop and give ourselves the time to reflect and learn. I myself am a cuprite of this, my diary is choca block and there is not much time for error or delay from one event from another. I am finding my journal already is allowing me the time to start this reflecting process as I am becoming more aware of different experiences through out my day to day life. Moreover Dewey has made me realise that I need to make time to do this and in his words 'You need to be aware so you can learn and gain knowledge and experience' Maybe I need to schedule Journal writing into my dairy!
Kolb - Kolb focuses on a learning cycle which has four entry points. Active experiment (planning/trying out what you've learnt) , concrete experiment (doing/having an experience) , reflective observation (reviewing/reflecting on the experience) and abstract conceptualisation (concluding/learning from the experience) . Kolb like Dewey believes it's important to identify you have had an experience. He uses the learning cycle not only as a tool for reflection but also a tool for approaching tasks.
In the reader it asks you to think about how you started your blog to help you figure out where you enter the learning cycle, as this entry point is often called your learning style. For my blog I probably used a few of the learning cycle points but I entered the cycle with active experiment. I used trial error until I found myself with a blog, it wasn't until then I decided to have a look at what others did and then read the handbook to check I had got the right thing. Since I had never created a blog I don't think I used concrete experiment as it was all completely new to me, but when creating my flickr and youtube account I used aspects that I had learnt from creating the blog. So from applying Kolbs learning cycle to creating a blog I have managed to identify and experience and reflect on it! I personally feel we can't pinpoint a specific learning style from this as when experiences differ so will our learning styles!
Gardner - Gardner talks on the subject of multiple intelligence. I like this theory as its highlights that we are not all the same. I know myself I am a VAK learner. (Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetically) There has been many a time when I have been with friends learning a song along with crazy dance routines or the other way round shouting different words to dance moves. Or when learning a monologue blocking specific words to movements. I even use this method of teaching with my 4-8 year olds when ever we dance we shout out funny words and we always have actions when singing, I find this helps everyone and even when we do our shows for the parents we keep the funny words in our dances as it really helps them remember whats coming next! At school I was known for making up songs about almost anything, I can still remember one about Henry the 8th many wife's!
Polanyi - Tacit knowledge has to be my favourite concept in this reader. There has been so many occasions where you say I know what you mean but I just cant explain it! Or you just can't express yourself in words but you have it all in your head. As dancers we use it all the time, how do we all know how to do a double pirouette or a triple wing time step? You just do! Same with hitting that top c, it just comes out and you can't explain how! This also links into Tharp's idea's of muscle memory "her memory of movement doesn't need to be accessed through conscious effort" Which is so true as we all know that sometimes mid routine when you actually think about the moves that when it all goes wrong!
Schon - I love his theory of reflection in action as I think I do a lot of that! I personally feel that especially in our profession this is a type of reflection that we constantly use. As a performer we are constantly adapting to our surroundings. A classic example would be when a member of the ensemble disappears mid number and you automatically shift the staging so there is no longer a dodgy gap. Or your about to do an epic lift and your partners vanished so instead you so either do a casual kick, pirouette then jazz pounce as if it was choreographed that way in the first place. Either of those examples have happened to all of us on many occasions but we all instinctively fix it! It has been drummed in to us that we have to be in the moment. Any normal person would panic and probably run off screaming but its our instinct to keep calm and carry on!
Reflection on action is probably used in more academic professions as you go away and look back on the event, but both of theses theories from Schon link to Dewey's theory of how time impacts on how you engage with ideas in both the 'Present' and the 'Future'
I also agree with Kottcamp's views that reflection in action is harder to achieve and gives us a better and more powerful tool to create instant improvments and helps us adjust to create a better outcome of the event.
I found this reader very interesting as subconsciously I have been using different reflective methods as a tool to improve my professional practice. Now I am fully aware of these methods I can apply them more and use them to learn and gain more knowledge not only about myself but my profession. Before this reader I probably didn't understand the importance of reflection and how it used as a key tool for learning from our experience. Therefor I have decided I will make a conscious effort to use is as much as I can and can't wait to see what I learn from my private journal!
As you can tell from my 'brief summary' there is a lot to say about reader 2. I haven't even tackled Boud's journal yet or thought about what I like and the layers behind that, but rest assured those blogs will follow shortly! If you have any thoughts on reader two that are not included in this blog or have any thoughts and ideas on what I have written please comment below!
You have summarised reader 2 very well. You have digested the information and written it in your own format. This has also help me understand a lot! Thanks Han :)
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